Charles Nailen/The Hoya Senior defenseman Ken Osier runs past a defender. He had one goal on two shots in the Hoyas’ defeat of the Tigers last Sunday.

Behind a career-high five-goal effort from senior attack Neal Goldman, the Georgetown transition offense led the No. 5 Hoyas to a 15-8 NCAA tournament first round victory over the Towson Tigers Sunday afternoon.

Georgetown put the ball past Towson junior goalie Reed Sothoron on eight different fast breaks, the most crucial of which came at the start of the second half. With three goals by junior attack Kevin Langtry, Goldman and junior midfielder Brice Queener in the first five minutes of the third quarter, the Hoyas turned a 6-3 halftime lead into a comfortable six-score advantage.

“Transition goals certainly helped tremendously,” Head Coach Dave Urick said. “They give everyone a lift.”

Senior Andrew Braziel and the rest of the Georgetown defensive squad had an impressive afternoon, holding Towson scoreless on four extra-man opportunities. The Hoyas even managed to overcome one man-down situation, passing the ball quickly downfield until it reached the stick of Queener, whose one-timer found the back of the net.

“They made some shots and we didn’t,” Towson Head Coach Tony Seaman said. “I think [Braziel] caught more of our passes than we caught.”

The Georgetown defense forced turnovers again and again, intercepting passes or deflecting them out of the air. During the first three periods, the Hoyas won the turnover battle, 26-17.

Much of the anticipation before the contest surrounded the battle that occurred at centerfield between junior Andy Corno and Towson senior Ben DeFelice, the top two faceoff specialists in the country. DeFelice came out on top, nabbing 10 of 19 while Corno only managed 10 of 23. But the efforts of DeFelice, who played in his last game on Sunday, did not translate into much of an advantage for the Tigers.

“That kind of stuff just deflates you,” Seaman said. “We kept winning faceoffs, but we kept losing it on turnovers.”

Though the Tigers were first to get on the board when senior midfielder Drew Pfarr scored at 11:27 in the first quarter, they got off just three more shots for the rest period. The Hoyas had 11 shots in the opening stanza, four of which were goals. Sophomore attack Sean Denihan, freshman attack Trevor Casey and sophomore midfielder Peter Cannon tallied a goal apiece, while Goldman notched his first of the afternoon.

Pfarr’s second score punctuated Georgetown’s third and fourth goals and after 15 minutes of play the scoreboard read 4-2.

Towson’s play improved in the second quarter, though Georgetown’s did too. In the lowest collective scoring quarter of the contest, Tiger senior midfielder Peyton Chane ran the ball around from the back of the crease to score, while the Hoyas added two of their own.

In the second half the Hoyas came out strong. Junior attack Kevin Langtry took advantage of an extra-man opportunity that carried over from the final seconds of the first half, shooting the ball past Sothoron as he fell to the ground. Georgetown scored three more before Towson could respond.

“We’ve had some trouble putting things away,” Goldman said. “These guys like to run. We’re not safe with even a five- or six-goal lead.”

But the stringent Georgetown defense prevented Towson from mount any substantial offensive attack and the Tigers could not reduce the margin to less than six goals. Instead, the clubs traded goals for the rest of the contest and the Hoyas came away with a victory in front of 1,511 in their final home game of the season.

Georgetown sophomore goalie Rich D’Andrea had 10 saves on the afternoon. His counterpart Sothoron fended off 14 shots on goal.

With the win, Georgetown moves on to the NCAA quarterfinals for the third consecutive year. The Hoyas will face the fourth-seeded Orangemen at Cornell’s Schoellkopf Field on Sunday afternoon, to whom they lost in their season closer on May 7, a 13-9 defeat. Georgetown has suffered defeat at the hands of its bitter rival during every season since 1998, including its final four loss in 1999 and its quarterfinal loss in 2000.

Syracuse handily defeated Albany, 21-13, on Sunday, gaining the most points in any contest since 1998. The Orangemen have advanced to the final four each season since 1982.

“We know that [the Orangemen] got the best of us the first time,” Goldman said. “We gave away games to them, to Navy . we don’t want to give away any more.”

Other Accolades

Georgetown placed six players on the All-ECAC First Team, the conference announced Monday. Hajj, Braziel, Corno, Goldman, sophomore defenseman Reyn Garnett and junior long-stick midfielder Brodie Merrill received the honors.

The Hoyas have not had as many players named to the conference first team since 2001, when they also had six honorees, including Steve Dusseau (COL ’02) and current assistant coach Scott Urick (COL ’00).

Hajj also received Riddell Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Year. He did not, however, make the short list of candidates for the Tewaaraton Trophy, which was announced Wednesday. Teammate errill is the only remaining Georgetown player in the running for the award, given annually to top male and female varsity collegiate lacrosse players. Four other athletes are competing for the honor, which will be presented at The University Club on June 3.

Conference Rookie of the Year accolades went to freshman Trevor Casey.